The term "cassette" is used herein to mean a tape cartridge of the type in which magnetic tape is carried on two reels enclosed in a flat, thin, plastic container, the tape being fed back and forth (reel-to-reel) for recording or playback. Each end of the tape is fastened to one of the reels and the tape may be provided with a pair of monaural tracks or two pair of stereo tracks for recording or playback of sound in either direction of movement of the tape within the cassette.
The term "tape deck" is used herein to mean a mechanism as described, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,385,534 and 4,208,023 of the slide-in type in which a cassette is inserted and guided to operative position and which has a movable frame carrying powered capstans and reel hub spindles for drive of the tape reel-to-reel within the cassette, the cassette having openings in its faces for introduction of the capstans into the cassette and the spindles into the reel hubs in the course of movement of the cassette to operative position, so that the tape may be unwound from one reel, moved past the recording or playback heads, and wound on the other reel. Recording and playback heads are included on a fixed frame and adapted to be connected to suitable electronic circuits, microphones or speakers, so as to be capable of recording on or playing sound from the tape.
In the course of the movement of the cassette to operative position, the capstans and reel hub spindles are caused to penetrate the cassette by movement of the movable frame substantially perpendicularly relative to the cassette, and are retracted from the cassette on the return movement of the movable frame so as to insure that the cassette is positively separated from these drive members as it is returned.
In such slide-in type tape decks, the return movement of the movable frame is utilized to return the cassette; the return movement is produced by gravity and/or springs biasing the movable frame to its fully returned position. Where the return movement of the movable frame is utilized to return the cassette, the cassette may be forcefully ejected from the tape deck rather than placed into its original position where the user can easily take hold of it to remove it or push it in for replaying.
Previous attempts to control the return movement of the cassette and reduce the forcefulness with which the cassette is returned have involved braking the return movement of the cassette by means of leaf springs, pivoting doors and other devices interacting with uneven surfaces provided on the walls of the cassette. However, these devices have not been fully satisfactory since the devices generate resistance which must be overcome when the cassette is shifted into the operative position.
The problem of controlling the return movement of cassettes which has existed with the compact cassettes offered for several years on the market becomes crucial with micro-cassettes since the cases of these are perfectly parallelepipedic and do not have any unevenness which may be utilized to brake the movement of the cassette.